Davidson High students create best robot east of the Mississippi (video)

Cody Miller, a junior at Mobile's Davidson High School, drives the team robot, officially named "E.O. Wilson," and nicknamed "Dragon," in a regional competition at Auburn University this weekend. Davidson took first place overall in the BEST Robotics competition. (Photo courtesy Lauren Chisholm)

MOBILE, Alabama -- Davidson High took top honors in a competition to determine which students could create, and market, the best robot east of the Mississippi River.

Students from the Mobile school took their bug-catching robot, officially named “E.O. Wilson” after the Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist — and nicknamed “Dragon” because it looked like one — to Auburn University this weekend as part of the South’s BEST Regional Robotics Championship.

Fifty teams from seven states competed.

With the theme this year being “Bugs,” students used remote controls to make their robots collect genetically engineered bugs that had escaped from a lab.

Teams set up a trade show exhibit booth and did a marketing presentation to try to sell their concept. They wrote about their design in detailed engineering notebooks. And they were judged on spirit and sportsmanship.

“When they announced our name, I couldn’t even breathe,” said 17-year-old Davidson senior Bradley Mason. “I didn’t know what to think or do, other than to go out there and grab that trophy.”

Three other local teams placed in various categories: St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School, the Mobile Area Coalition of Homeschoolers and Monroeville Junior High.

These teams advanced to the regional competition after doing well in the local Jubilee BEST Robotics competition here in October. The students had six weeks to design and produce their robots for the regional competition, and then four weeks afterward to tweak them.

Forty-five students from Davidson participated in the competition and went to Auburn. The teachers that sponsor the team are: Zach Brewer, Mike Fletcher and Jenny Parker.

Due to budget and time constraints, there will be no national competition this year.

So, the highest honors will be winning one of three regional competitions, as Davidson has done.

Robin Fenton, hub director with Jubilee BEST Robotics, said this competition is exciting because it gives students a chance to excel in something besides athletics.

“The kids are in the spotlight for something academic, for their hard work in doing something that they’re going to be able to carry with them into industry,” Fenton said. “That’s excitement for them.”

Science doesn’t even have to be your favorite subject to compete.

Davidson team member Lauren Chisholm, a 17-year-old senior, who prefers the arts, worked on the marketing team. She helped design the logo and team display.

“We have a great team,” Chisholm said. “We knew going in that we were going to be facing tough teams and that the competition was going to be much tougher than it was on the local level. Coming home, it was unbelievable. It still hasn’t sinked in that we’re No. 1.”

Mobile’s home school team won first place for its marketing presentation and for having the most creative robot design. St. Vincent de Paul won third place for spirit and sportsmanship. Monroeville won third place for its engineering notebook.

St. Paul’s Episcopal, North Mobile County Middle and Sweet Water High School also sent teams to the regional competition.